Panel construction



y 2, 1951 A. R. CLARK 2,554,359

PANEL CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 12, 1946 lNVENTOR Alb? I? ClarK ATTORNEY 1 This invention relates Patented May 22, 1951 PANEL CONSTRUCTION Albert K. Clark, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to' The De Vilbiss Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corpora-' tion of Ohio Application December 12, 1946, Serial No. 715,732

to spray booths for use in confining and exhausting fumes arising from spray coating operations and particularly to the structure of joints between, and reinforced edges of panels used in building such spray booths.

One object of my invention is the provision of a joint between panels which forms on the interior of the booth or other enclosure a smooth co-planar surface with the adjoining panels and presents a neat appearance on the exterior of the booth.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a joint that is inexpensive and easy to assemble during erection of the spray booth.

Another object is a panel arrangement which makes possible a spray booth with curved corners and one that may be modified in shape at the time of erection.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a sturdy panel edge construction for outlining openings and a reinforced edge upon which the booth may be supported.

Other objects and advantages of the invention are brought out in the following description with reference being made to the drawing in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a spray booth embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a part of the interior side of the wall of the spray booth including lower portions of two panels and the joint between them;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the forward edge of the right side of the spray booth, bordering the front opening thereof,. taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a vertical section, taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1, through the lower portion of the right side wall; and

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 55 of Figure 1 showing the joint arrangement between .panels of glass and between a glass panel and one of sheet metal.

In the particular embodiment presented the spray booth is composed of a roof I and side walls 2 and 3. Separating the rear wall 4 from the forward area of the interior of the spray booth are bafiles 5. A motor 6 is mounted above the exhaust pipe I for driving the fan (not shown) within the pipe to create a draft through the booth past the bafiies and into the exhaust pipe.

In the side walls of the spray booth are pairs of glass panels 8 for admitting light into the interior of the booths so that the operator standing in the spray booth opening may better see the object to be coated positioned within the booth.

Other panels of the booth are made of light gauge sheet metal and are indicated by the numerals 9 through 29.

Where the metal panels are adjoining, the attached edges have laterally turned lips 30. These are preferably so formed at the manufacturing plant but may be bent at the erection site should circumstances warrant. The lips are clamped between the sides of channel strips 3| and 32 as may be noted in Figures 2 and 3. The strips are held together in nested relation by bolts 33 extending into tapped holes in bar 34 which fits snugly in the recess of channel 32. There is a flange 53 extending from each side of the channel strip 32 holding the portion of the panel adjacent the lip 36 against the'edge of the side of channel strip 3|.

As shown in Figures 2 and 4, the bottom edges of the panels extending to the floor, instead of being turned laterally are bent entirely back flat against the surface of the panels, forming a doubled edge 35. This fits into a deep groove 36 between vertical legs 31 and 38 of a supporting member 39 formed of two right angle pieces 40 and 4| spot welded together. The member 39 rests upon the floor to which it may be rigidly secured by bolts or screws through spaced holes 42. This supporting member 39 lines up the adjoining side panels and reinforces the lower edges of such panels.

The edges of the panels bordering. the front opening of the spray booth are provided with a laterally extending lip 43, similar to lip 30 utilized to fasten adjoining edges of the panels together. To provide rigidity and for the sake of appearance, the lip 43 is clamped between a channel trim 44 and a strap 45 by a series of bolts and nuts 46 and 41.

A modified form of the joint structure as utilized between metal panels is used where glass panels are involved. As illustrated in Figure 5, the edge of the glass panel is held between an exterior retaining plate 48 extending from the standard joint assembly and a double- L adapter 49, the outer short leg 59 of one of the Us being secured between the clamping members 3| and 32 of the joint in the same manner as is lip 30 of a metal panel. To avoid glass breakage felt 5! is placed next to the glass beneath the gripping surfaces of the retaining plate 48 and double L adapter 49.

Where a glass panel is connected to a sheet metal panel, a narrower plate 52, as shown in Figure 5, is sufficient to retain the glass.

While I have illustrated and described a parpanel'extending between one set of adjoining sides ofthe .pair of U-shaped strips, an elongated glass panel retaining adapter having a flat portion supporting one side of the edge of the glass panel, a lateral leg on the adapter extending between the opposite set of adjoining sides of the pair of U-shaped strips, a glass retaining plate supporting the other side of the edge of the glass panel and extending across the flat exterior bottom of the outer U-shaped strip, bolts inserted through the retaining plate and the two strips,

fastening the strips together and holding the re-' taining plate and the adapter against opposite sides of the glass panel, and compressible material inserted between the glass panel and the supporting surfaces of the retaining plate and adapter to increase the gripping action and lessen the possibility of glass fracture.

ALBERT R. CLARK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 11,254 Burton July 19, 1892 422,064 Bayles Feb. 25, 1890 1,080,622 Barrie Dec. 9, 1913 1,841,360 Brandl Jan. 19, 1932 1,961,584 Hathorn June 5, 1934 2,328,197 Cowin Aug. 31, 1943 2,400,150 Jones et al May 14, 1946 

